New campaign launched to encourage young people into creative careers

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched a new campaign to encourage more young people aged 13-17 years old to consider future careers in the creative sector.

The ‘Discover! Creative Careers’ campaign has been co-created and co-delivered with trade body CreativeUK and skills provider ScreenSkills and has the backing of major organisations in the sector, including Channel 4, Ubisoft, Netflix and Co-op Live, as well as the advertising sector through Out-of-Home advertising sector body, Outsmart, whose member organisations donating digital advertising space in key areas to support its mission.

The campaign has launched with a month of awareness-raising activities across England, Wales and Scotland throughout November 2025.

Alongside the Discover! programme’s month of nationwide activities, the campaign prioritises six regions identified in the Government’s Industrial Strategy: Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East of England, West of England, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. These areas have growing creative sectors with businesses ranging from gaming studios to advertising agencies, and film production to digital marketing companies.

The campaign will demonstrate to young people of all backgrounds that their interests can be turned into creative careers, and showcase real-life, accessible pathways into these regional creative sectors.

Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said:

“To keep the magic of our creative industries alive, we must nurture a new generation of talent by demystifying creative jobs and breaking down the barriers currently blocking young people from diverse backgrounds.

“Through this campaign, and as part of our Plan For Change, we will launch more young people into exciting creative careers in their communities – building skills, countering misconceptions and raising awareness about the opportunities available.”

Tim Lumb, Director of Outsmart Media said:

“Outsmart and the Out of Home industry are proud to support this important campaign which aims to inspire young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds into a career in the creative industries. By promoting the campaign in public spaces across the North, the message should be more accessible to all communities.”

Sharon Lloyd-Barnes, Commercial Director of The Advertising Agency said:

“This campaign is a powerful asset in the drive to increase awareness of the dozens of different roles in advertising and marketing industry – and to tackle some of the perceived barriers to entry. We are delighted to support it, via the advertising agencies involved in making the ads to the media companies right across the UK promoting it on their digital screens”